The 20,000-year-old pottery fragments were found in the Xianrendong Cave in Jiangxi Province. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Pottery fragments found in China are 20,000 years old

The 20,000-year-old pottery fragments were found in the Xianrendong Cave in Jiangxi Province. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

The 20,000-year-old pottery fragments were found in the Xianrendong Cave in Jiangxi Province. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

BEIJING (AP) – Pottery fragments found in a south China cave have been confirmed to be 20,000 years old, making them the oldest known pottery in the world, archaeologists say.

The findings, which were published in the journal Science on Friday, add to recent efforts that have dated pottery piles in east Asia to more than 15,000 years ago, refuting conventional theories that the invention of pottery correlates to the period about 10,000 years ago when humans moved from being hunter-gathers to farmers.

The research by a team of Chinese and American scientists also pushes the emergence of pottery back to the last ice age, which might provide new explanations for the creation of pottery, said Gideon Shelach, chair of the Louis Frieberg Center for East Asian Studies at The Hebrew University in Israel.

“The focus of research has to change,” Shelach, who is not involved in the research project in China, said by telephone.

In an accompanying Science article, Shelach wrote that such research efforts “are fundamental for a better understanding of socio-economic change (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) and the development that led to the emergency of sedentary agricultural societies.”

He said the disconnection between pottery and agriculture as shown in east Asia might shed light on specifics of human development in the region.

Wu Xiaohong, professor of archaeology and museology at Peking University and the lead author of the Science article that details the radiocarbon dating efforts, told The Associated Press that her team was eager to build on the research.

“We are very excited about the findings. The paper is the result of efforts done by generations of scholars,” Wu said. “Now we can explore why there was pottery in that particular time, what were the uses of the vessels, and what role they played in the survival of human beings.”

The ancient fragments were discovered in the Xianrendong cave in south China’s Jiangxi province, which was excavated in the 1960s and again in the 1990s, according to the journal article.

Wu, a chemist by training, said some researchers had estimated that the pieces could be 20,000 years old, but that there were doubts.

“We thought it would be impossible because the conventional theory was that pottery was invented after the transition to agriculture that allowed for human settlement.”

But by 2009, the team—which includes experts from Harvard and Boston universities—was able to calculate the age of the pottery fragments with such precision that the scientists were comfortable with their findings, Wu said.

“The key was to ensure the samples we used to date were indeed from the same period of the pottery fragments,” she said.

That became possible when the team was able to determine the sediments in the cave were accumulated gradually without disruption that might have altered the time sequence, she said.

Scientists took samples, such as bones and charcoal, from above and below the ancient fragments in the dating process, Wu said.

“This way, we can determine with precision the age of the fragments, and our results can be recognized by peers,” Wu said.

Shelach said he found the process done by Wu’s team to be meticulous and that the cave had been well protected throughout the research.

The same team in 2009 published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in which they determined the pottery fragments found in south China’s Hunan province to be 18,000 years old, Wu said.

“The difference of 2,000 years might not be significant in itself, but we always like to trace everything to its earliest possible time,” Wu said. “The age and location of pottery fragments help us set up a framework to understand the dissemination of the artifacts and the development of human civilization.”

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-06-28-12 1909GMT


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


The 20,000-year-old pottery fragments were found in the Xianrendong Cave in Jiangxi Province. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

The 20,000-year-old pottery fragments were found in the Xianrendong Cave in Jiangxi Province. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

World War Japanese warplanes in the recognition model collection include this trio, lot 1061, which has a $350-$450 estimate. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

Aircraft ID models sighted at Affiliated Auctions sale July 8

World War Japanese warplanes in the recognition model collection include this trio, lot 1061, which has a $350-$450 estimate. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

World War Japanese warplanes in the recognition model collection include this trio, lot 1061, which has a $350-$450 estimate. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Friend or foe? Survival in combat often depends on quickly recognizing the combatants. Aircraft recognition training models, visual aids in identifying aircraft, were widely used during World War II and into the jet age. Affiliated Auctions & Realty LLC, a Tallahassee-based auction company, will sell a single-owner collection of approximately 40 lots of recognition models at their Military and Firearms auction on Sunday, July 8.

LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding for the 450-lot auction, which begins at noon EDT.

The rare and valuable recognition models are part of a 3,500-piece aircraft toy and model collection amassed over 30 years by Capt. Geoffrey Randolph “G.R.” Webster. A distinguished wartime pilot and retired businessman who divides his time between Florida and the French Riviera, Webster is in the process of dispersing his unique collections at auction.

The recognition models have lot numbers ranging from 1047 to 1086 and will sell within the first hour of the auction.

Most of the models carry estimates ranging from $250-$400. A few are in the $600-$700 range.

High in the auction stratosphere is a World War II USA B-29 Liberator bomber in scale 1/72. The black model made of acetate measures 16 1/2 inches long and has a wingspan of 23 1/4 inches. It carries a $550-$650 estimate.

Sets of aircraft models in the sale are estimated at $700-$900.

Also included is a rare set of World War II British Royal Navy metal ship models in 1/1200 scale. The miniature fleet of approximately 28 ships, manufactured by H.A. Framburg & Co., Chicago, is contained in a folding carrying case. Original and in near mint condition, the set has a $900-$1,400 estimate.

A sampling of additional lots in the auctions includes a 1916 Prussia Kaiser period Garde du Corps officer helmet (estimate: $17,000-$18,000), a 43-inch-long model of the heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire by John Ficklen III (estimate: $3,000-$5,000), a Colt Single Action Army revolver manufactured in 1888 (estimate: $800-$1,000), and 19-inch-tall bronze statue of Adolf Hitler by Kurt Schmidt Ehmen ($3,000-$4,000).

For details about the auction email Stephen Pike at stephenp@affiliatedauctions.com or phone 850-445-3212.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


World War Japanese warplanes in the recognition model collection include this trio, lot 1061, which has a $350-$450 estimate. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

World War Japanese warplanes in the recognition model collection include this trio, lot 1061, which has a $350-$450 estimate. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

Postwar recognition models include a Viking (left) and Javelin, both 1950-1960, scale 1/72. The Viking measures 10 1/2 inches long, wingspan 15 1/4 inches. The Javelin is 9 inches long and has a wingspan of 8 3/4 inches. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

Postwar recognition models include a Viking (left) and Javelin, both 1950-1960, scale 1/72. The Viking measures 10 1/2 inches long, wingspan 15 1/4 inches. The Javelin is 9 inches long and has a wingspan of 8 3/4 inches. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

C-46 Commando, 1/72 scale, 13 inches long, made by Cruver. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

C-46 Commando, 1/72 scale, 13 inches long, made by Cruver. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

B-32, 1/72 scale, approximately 14 inches long, made by Cruver. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

B-32, 1/72 scale, approximately 14 inches long, made by Cruver. Affiliated Auction & Realty LLC image.

Maricopa County Courthouse in Phoenix, which was built in 1929. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

Ancient artifacts found at Phoenix construction site

Maricopa County Courthouse in Phoenix, which was built in 1929. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

Maricopa County Courthouse in Phoenix, which was built in 1929. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

PHOENIX (AP) – Archaeologists say they have found ancient artifacts at the Phoenix construction site of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s future headquarters.

The Arizona Republic reports preservation experts believe pottery fragments found by workers in May date as far back as 1,600 years ago.

Archaeologist Mark Hackbarth, whose firm is contracted with the county to examine any findings, says the grindstones predate even the Hohokam Indians.

The fragments will eventually go to the Pueblo Grand Museum for research and future exhibits.

A spokeswoman for the county said Wednesday allowing archaeologists to gather findings at the site at Sixth Avenue and Madison Street shouldn’t affect the construction deadline for the $93 million facility.

___

Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-06-28-12 1444GMT


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Maricopa County Courthouse in Phoenix, which was built in 1929. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

Maricopa County Courthouse in Phoenix, which was built in 1929. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

Outlaw Billy the Kid's tombstone was pushed off its base. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Billy the Kid tombstone vandalized during museum break-in

Outlaw Billy the Kid's tombstone was pushed off its base. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Outlaw Billy the Kid’s tombstone was pushed off its base. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

FORT SUMNER, N.M. (AP) – The tombstone of Billy the Kid has been vandalized.

KOB-TV reports that the famous outlaw’s 2000-pound tombstone was tipped over and damaged earlier this month after thieves broke into the old Fort Sumner Museum.

De Baca County authorities say other graves in the cemetery were also vandalized.

In addition, officials say three antique rifles and a shotgun were stolen from the museum.

No arrests have been made.

De Baca County Crimestoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

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Information from: KOB-TV, http://www.kob.com

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-06-28-12 1414GMT


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Outlaw Billy the Kid's tombstone was pushed off its base. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Outlaw Billy the Kid’s tombstone was pushed off its base. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Martin Luther King, in a 1964 photo, was born in Atlanta, where the news civil rights museum will be build. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Civil rights museum set to break ground in Atlanta

Martin Luther King, in a 1964 photo, was born in Atlanta, where the news civil rights museum will be build. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Martin Luther King, in a 1964 photo, was born in Atlanta, where the news civil rights museum will be build. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

ATLANTA (AP) – The birthplace of Martin Luther King will become the next Southern capital to have a museum dedicated to the legacy of the civil rights era, as city officials, corporate donors, foot soldiers from the movement and project organizers gathered Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony.

The Center for Civil and Human Rights is expected to open in mid-2014 in Atlanta, ahead of similar projects planned in Washington and Mississippi. Supporters say the center will be a home for both legacy and leadership that will be part of the ongoing struggle for justice and equality around the world.

“It will be a resource for education, information and transformation,” said chief executive officer Doug Shipman. “It will guide the discussion for civil rights today.”

The center is expected to be a major tourist draw and is located downtown between two of the city’s most popular attractions, the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola. The project, first conceived more than six years ago, has stalled because of stagnant fundraising during the recent economic downturn. It is expected to cost around $100 million and create $50 million in annual revenue, drawing about 400,000 visitors each year.

Organizers say it will also serve as a hub for speakers and artists who work on issues of human rights, expanding its focus beyond the 20th-century battle to end discrimination in America.

Cities including Memphis, Tenn., Greensboro, S.C., and Birmingham, Ala.—all sites that played major roles in the civil rights movement—currently have museums dedicated to the area. While the fight to end segregation was not waged in Atlanta, Mayor Kasim Reed said it is fitting to have such a center in the city where kind was born.

King’s lieutenants, including Ambassador Andrew Young, Congressman John Lewis and the Rev. Joseph Lowery, still call the city home.

King’s legacy also factors prominently into the center’s plan, and was one of the catalysts for its creation. In 2006, then-Mayor Shirley Franklin led the successful effort to purchase the $32 million trove of books, documents and other articles belonging King that were scheduled for auction.

The Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection, along with the award-winning “Without Sanctuary” lynching exhibit, will be centerpieces of the facility.

___

Online:

Follow Haines on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-06-27-12 1949GMT


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Martin Luther King, in a 1964 photo, was born in Atlanta, where the news civil rights museum will be build. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Martin Luther King, in a 1964 photo, was born in Atlanta, where the news civil rights museum will be build. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

'The Thinker' by Rodin located at the Musée Rodin in Paris. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Being in the buff all in a day’s work for art models

'The Thinker' by Rodin located at the Musée Rodin in Paris. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

‘The Thinker’ by Rodin located at the Musée Rodin in Paris. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) – Tim Rhodes turns 58 next month, but exposes no hang-ups on getting closer to 60. Instead, he exposes himself—and shines a light on an opportunity that many have never considered. On local college campuses, Rhodes, of Lancaster, is known as an art model—one who gets paid to pose nude for art classes.

“I don’t have a beautiful body,” he said, “but it’s interesting.”

His athletic build is a plus, but not a necessity. Art models, male or female, can range in age and physique. After all, Rhodes pointed out, the students are not “drawing a Ken doll.”

“There is a rich history involved in drawing a nude model,” said Matthew Weigle, a 2001 alumnus of Pennsylvania College of Art & Design who will teach a course on figure drawing this summer using live (nude) models in the classroom.

“It’s the most beautiful and expressive form, and the most difficult. It requires you to draw quickly, to capture the essence of the pose. If you can draw the (human) figure, you can draw anything,” Weigle said.

Rhodes prepares himself for each art gig simply by being hygienic and well put-together. “I’m always freshly scrubbed and moisturized,” he said while being interviewed—fully clothed—outside the department store that employs him full time.

Art modeling also is a second job for 31-year-old business owner Tanya Slifer, a Harrisburg resident who has posed nude for art students at the Lancaster campus of Harrisburg Area Community College.

“I chose to become an art model because I wanted to become more comfortable with my self-image,” said Slifer, a mother of two. “My favorite part is seeing the final outcome. It enables you to look at yourself in a more objective way.”

Slifer keeps herself fit. “It has nothing to do with actually modeling,” she said. “It’s more for my own desire to be healthy.”

She maintains a professional demeanor as much as possible while modeling, but added that there are times when she will overhear something funny said by a student and she’ll giggle. “I’ve passed gas,” she admitted, or had to belch.

“There’s definitely interaction; Mona Lisa had her smirks,” Slifer said. To hold a pose while nude, she earns between $10 and $20 per hour, with each assignment usually lasting 3 hours. Rhodes gets paid similarly.

To those who frown upon the use of nudes, Weigle advised they take a greater look at history to educate themselves.

“(The nude) is the best vehicle of narrative and expression,” Weigle said. His favorite painting is Massacre of the Innocents, (circa 1610) by Peter Paul Rubens, in which flesh abounds.

“You could show that painting anywhere and all would relate to the emotions in that painting.”

A mutual appreciation for art, between the model and student, is beneficial, and Weigle prefers models who enjoy what they do.

“There’s a certain level of compassion that occurs between a model and a student,” Rhodes said. “There’s no talking. The model is expected to be professional.”

Rhodes achieves a sense of Zen while posing, he said, and often doesn’t know how much time passes while he’s on display. Maintaining a pose can be difficult, he warned, and he considers his endurance before selecting his stance. Some instructors prefer to choose the pose; others leave it up to the model.

He said he learns much from hearing the teacher instructing the class, which also helps prevent him from dozing off. Dozing off can create somewhat of a work hazard.

On one job, an art instructor pretended to shoot Rhodes to create a dramatic scene for his students—the model lying “dead” on the floor. But, as time passed, Rhodes fell asleep and, as happens with males, when aroused from his slumber, “there was more of me to draw than there was before.”

However, he was able to quickly save, er, face.

“I was embarrassed enough,” he said, “that it was not a problem for long.”

___

Online:

bit.ly/LR0LUh

___

Information from: Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era, http://lancasteronline.com

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-06-27-12 1927GMT


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


'The Thinker' by Rodin located at the Musée Rodin in Paris. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

‘The Thinker’ by Rodin located at the Musée Rodin in Paris. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

A 1906 REO Runabout. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Retired dentist reluctantly becomes used car dealer

A 1906 REO Runabout. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

A 1906 REO Runabout. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

SARANAC, Mich. (AP) – Dr. Elroy Kidle gently brushes his hand along the cowl of his rare 1914 Cadillac Landaulet Coupe, parked next to his equally rare 1905 REO Runabout.

Kidle is in the twilight years of his long love affair with old fine old cars. He was especially fond of REOs that were built in nearby Lansing until the mid-1930s.

“The reason I’m getting rid of them is because I can’t drive them anymore,” says the 83-year-old retired dentist as he pauses in the paneled garage behind his house that’s decorated with photographs and advertisements of automotive brands that are now extinct.

The gleaming red Runabout—one of the oldest REOs known to exist—has already been sold. Kidle says he will deliver it to the new owner this summer.

“It’s going to a gentleman in New York, it’s going to be in a museum,” says Kidle, who rescued the car from a barn in Benkelman, Neb., and had it restored to showroom condition. “I sold it to him two years ago and told him he could have it in the next five years.”

Earlier this year, Kidle sold a 1914 REO to a fellow dentist and member of the REO Club of America. Next on his list is the stately Cadillac that Kidle has been restoring since he bought it 20 years ago.

The Cadillac was originally purchased by John and Mary Phillips, a wealthy Jackson family with 10 children, he says.

With room for three, the Cadillac was purchased for Mary Phillips to drive. After her death, it was stored by one of their daughters in a barn in Dowagiac, Mich., where its wooden subframe rotted beneath its aluminum body until Kidle rescued it.

Over the years, Kidle has hired craftsmen to replace the wooden subframe and hand-form key parts of its aluminum body. He’s also restored the original four-cylinder engine and chassis.

Steve Sturim, owner of Steve’s Antique Auto Repair in Wyoming, Mich., says Kidle’s coupe is one of only three known to still exist and one of only 50 made in 1913.

The Landaulets were known as “tulip cars” because of the unique shape of their bodies, Sturim says.

“There are no flat panels on them. Those are aluminum hand-formed bodies that were actually done by the two Fisher Brothers that started Fisher Body,” says Sturim, who worked on the drivetrain and helped Kidle find the craftsmen to rebuild the car.

“As far as we’re aware, the car has never been outside the state of Michigan,” says Sturim, whose shop is filled with restoration projects. One of his projects recently set a new speed record for vintage cars.

Sturim says he admires Kidle’s passion for finding and restoring old cars. “He loves his REOs and he loves his old cars,” he says. “His passion has taken him all over the country touring in these vehicles.”

Kidle enjoys showing off the car’s unique features—a three-piece windshield, a built-in tire pump, an internal wiring system that travels through the doors and the unique steering column and seating arrangement that accommodated the 4-foot 9-inch-tall Mary Phillips.

So far, Kidle says he has not actively sought buyers for the Cadillac. “I’m interested that it goes to the right place,” he says. “I would rather see it go to a museum.”

Though he’s not set a price, Kidle says he’ll need at least $100,000 to get his money out of it.

Kidle intends to keep his 1933 REO, a handsome sedan that he found in Illinois and had restored. It came equipped with an automatic transmission and a six-cylinder engine.

“This was considered a very modern car,” Kidle says. Despite its modern appointments, Kidle notes it’s the last model to feature wood-spoked wheels.

Although REO continued making trucks into the mid-1970s, it stopped making cars in 1935.

On the wall of his garage, Kidle has hung a photograph of President Theodore Roosevelt riding in a 1907 REO during a visit to Lansing. He has another poster of the sprawling REO factory in Lansing during its heyday.

“It was a real good company,” he says wistfully.

___

Information from: The Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/grand-rapids

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-06-27-12 1415GMT


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


A 1906 REO Runabout. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

A 1906 REO Runabout. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Confederacy museum winding up fundraising campaign

RICHMOND, Va. – The Museum of the Confederacy is making a final push toward reaching its fundraising goal for the fiscal year and has until June 30 to meet it.

Throughout its history the Museum of the Confederacy has been the preeminent institution for the education and preservation of Confederate history and artifacts. With projects such as the Flag Conservation Program, the restoration of the White House of the Confederacy, and the Teacher’s Institute, the MOC has gone to great lengths to keep Southern history alive.

Anyone who would like to make a gift to the annual fund my do so by going to http://www.moc.org/support or contact the museum’s Development departmanet at 855-649-1861 ext. 142.

Annual Fund donations help preserve the collection for future generations.

 

 

 

Tom Mayhill

In Memoriam: R. Thomas Mayhill, AntiqueWeek publisher, 95

Tom Mayhill

Tom Mayhill

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind. – Tom Mayhill, former publisher of AntiqueWeek, died Tuesday evening at Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield at the age of 95.

Mayhill was the longtime owner of the Knightstown Banner, which he purchased in 1946. He served as publisher of the weekly newspaper for more than 40 years, and expanded Mayhill Publications to include FarmWorld and AntiqueWeek, founded in 1968 as the Tri-State Trader.

He was born April 18, 1917, in Delphi, Ind., where his parents, Bert B. and Dora L. Mayhill, edited and owned the Delphi Journal.

He began his career in journalism in 1928, at the age of 11, when he covered sporting events for the Delphi Journal, and in 1930 and was named sports editor while he was still in high school.

Mayhill graduated from the University of Illinois, where he was managing editor of the Daily Illini newspaper his senior year. After graduation from Illinois, he worked briefly as a pollster for the Gallup Poll.

During World War II he served as a Navy lieutenant (senior grade) and gunnery officer on troop transport ships.

He married the former Peggy Kreisle from Tell City, Ind., on Dec. 26, 1944.

After the war, Mayhill became assistant publisher of the Hoopeston, Ill., Daily Chronicle-Herald, and owner and publisher of the Camden, Ind., Record-News.

Late in 1946 he purchased the Knightstown Banner and become editor and publisher. During his tenure, the Banner won many awards for newspaper excellence, including the best weekly newspaper in Indiana. He was named Knightstown’s Citizen of the Year in 1967.

He is a member of the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, inducted in 1991.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Todd Funeral Home (www.toddfuneralservice.com) in Knightstown with the calling and funeral being held at the Knightstown United Methodist Church on Saturday, June 30. Friends may visit the church starting at 11 a.m. with the funeral following at 2 p.m. Burial will follow at Glen Cove Cemetery in Knightstown.


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Tom Mayhill

Tom Mayhill

Vincenzo de Bellis, direttore artistico MiArt 2013

Il mercato dell’arte in Italia: Intervista a Vincenzo de Bellis

Vincenzo de Bellis, direttore artistico MiArt 2013

Vincenzo de Bellis, direttore artistico MiArt 2013

La fiera per l’arte moderna e contemporanea di Milano MiArt ha un nuovo direttore artstico: è Vincenzo de Bellis. Il direttore precedente, Frank Boehm, architetto tedesco con base a Milano e consulente della Deutsche Bank Collection Italy, è rimasto in carica solo un anno.

Già negli anni passati la fiera, alla ricerca di una formula vincente, ha apportato più volte cambiamenti alla direzione artistica – sebbene tale discontinuità non possa far bene all’evento. E questa non è l’unica modifica alla testa di una fiera italiana avvenuta quest’anno: a Bologna Silvia Evangelisti, che ha diretto Arte Fiera per nove anni, è stata sostituita da Giorgio Verzotti e Claudio Spadoni. A Torino, invece, Francesco Manacorda ha ceduto la direzione di Artissima a Sarah Cosulich Canarutto per andare a dirigere la Tate Liverpool.

Secondo gli organizzatori di MiArt, la decisione di togliere Boehm dalla sua posizione non dipende dalla qualità del suo lavoro. “La sempre più complessa realtà del sistema dell’arte”, spiegano gli organizzatori di MiArt ad Auction Central News, “ha reso necessario un ripensamento proprio del ruolo del direttore: non più un unico professionista ma una figura in grado di creare un team di esperti di settori diversi, in grado di dialogare sia con la realtà italiana sia con quella internazionale”.

Così, a fianco di Vincenzo de Bellis come direttore artistico, ci sarà un team composto da Andrew Bonacina, curatore dell’International Project Space di Birmingham; Florence Derieux, direttrice del Frac Champagne-Ardenne di Reims; Fionn Meade, curatrice indipendente a New York; Alessandro Rabottini, curatore esterno della GAMeC di Bergamo; Andrea Viliani, agent-core group di dOCUMENTA (13) a Kassel; e Donatella Volonté, responsabile del settore moderno sin dalla fondazione di MiArt.

Per quanto riguarda la scelta di Vincenzo de Bellis, l’organizzazione ha spiegato che de Bellis è stato invitato a presentare un progetto che è stato accettato dalla fiera. “De Bellis è una figura organica al sistema dell’arte: curatore e imprenditore (in quanto co-direttore di Peep-Hole Art Center), è in grado di fare di miart un collettore di ambiti e strutture diverse, di esaltare la funzione culturale di una fiera d’arte, senza prescindere dalla sua vocazione innegabilmente commerciale”.

Auction Central News ha chiesto a Vincenzo de Bellis di dare qualche anticipazione riguardo ai suoi piani per la prossima edizione di MiArt, che si svolgerà dal 5 al 7 aprile 2013.

Q: Lei ha dichiarato di voler iniziare un percorso che porti MiArt ad essere attiva nella produzione contemporanea durante tutto l’anno e non solo nei tre giorni in cui avviene l’evento fieristico. Può farci qualche esempio di come metterà in atto questo programma?

R: L’idea iniziale è quella di fare in modo che MiArt faccia da cassa di risonanza di eventi e progetti che le istituzioni di Milano organizzeranno e che saranno calendarizzati nello stesso periodo della fiera. Successivamente vorremmo mettere in atto alcuni programmi e progetti prodotti e coordinati da MiArt in altri momenti dell’anno in comune accordo con le istituzioni e le gallerie della città.

Q: Quale sarà il ruolo degli esperti italiani e internazionali che l’affiancheranno? Sono nomi scelti da lei?

R: Si sono tutti nomi scelti da me. Credo fortemente nella collaborazione e nel lavoro in team. Alcune sono persone con cui ho avuto esperienze di lavoro, altri che invece conosco da tempo come professionisti e con i quali, avuta questa occasione, si è creata la possibilità di collaborare. Ognuno di loro è stato scelto per una ragione specifica e con l’obiettivo di occuparsi di determinate sezioni della prossima MiArt.

Q: Può darci qualche anticipazione riguardo alle nuove sezioni?

R: Le posso dire per ora che le sezioni saranno 4, due di queste sono confermate rispetto alle scorse edizioni e due sono nuove. Tra queste ce n’è una che mette a confronto diretto moderno e contemporaneo, le due vene di MiArt.

Q: Che cosa, a suo parere, si deve migliorare rispetto all’edizione 2012 e alla fiera nel passato?

R: La qualità dell’offerta espositiva, quella dei servizi offerti sia al pubblico, sia agli espositori sia ai collezionisti. Un altro aspetto fondamentale è quello di generare l’interesse del pubblico internazionale dell’arte. Milano è il cuore pulsante dell’arte in Italia e deve puntare a questo.

Q: Che cosa farà per coinvolgere le gallerie e i collezionisti internazionali?

R: Sono previste una serie di programmi specifici per i collezionisti internazionali, con tour e visite in alcuni luoghi cardine della città (istituzioni d’arte e non solo) e sono previsti anche dei programmi specifici per gli espositori stranieri per farli conoscere al pubblico dei collezionisti italiani, che sono conosciuti nel mondo come tra i più attivi e attenti.

Note sull’autore:

Silvia Anna Barrilà è una giornalista italiana specializzata sul mercato dell’arte. Collabora regolarmente con Il Sole 24 ORE. Inoltre scrive di arte, design, lifestyle e società per varie riviste italiane e internazionali tra cui ICON (Mondadori) e DAMn Magazine. Vive tra Milano e Berlino.


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Vincenzo de Bellis, direttore artistico MiArt 2013

Vincenzo de Bellis, direttore artistico MiArt 2013